1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system and method for estimating and tracking a patient's risk for various medical conditions and, in particular, to a system and method for estimating and tracking a patient's risk for various medical conditions using an electronic medical records system.
2. Related Prior Art
A goal of medical research is to identify diagnostic measurements useful in revealing present of forecasting future disease states. In few cases, a disease state is revealed from a single diagnostic measurement. More often, a disease state can be detected with more sensitivity through recognizing the subtle relationship between two or more diagnostic measurements and a disease state.
The relationships between disease states and diagnostic measurements are frequently published in medical journals. These journals report medical algorithms, which are formulae by which the likelihood of a disease state can be computed by entering data from diagnostic measurements. Reliance on medical algorithms by medical practioners can reduce the number of medical errors, and efficiently promote the well being of patients.
Despite the great number of useful medical algorithms available, most practitioners use only a small number of them routinely. A major barrier preventing their application in practice is the lack of a convenient system for using the algorithms at the point of care. Compounding this barrier, both patient data and medical algorithms change over time as new information comes available. It is commonly known that health care providers, such as physicians, produce large volumes of diagnostic data which must be utilized in order to service patients. Constantly updating patients' diagnostic and/or risk assessment is unduly burdensome in view of these changes. Algorithms would be more widely utilized if clinicians could readily integrate them into a system that included patient data.
Electronic medical records systems have been developed in an attempt to insure accurate and complete input of information, and to facilitate information processing, retrieval and reporting. These electronic record systems are intended to ultimately replace patient records maintained in paper files, and generally attempt to reduce the workload of medical personnel in processing the information contained in these records.
Although various advantages have been provided by electronic medical records systems currently available, there is a continuing need for a relational data base model which provides a means for the rapid incorporation of diagnostic data into medical algorithms. Further, there is a need for such a relational data base model which provides a means for updating medical algorithms as they are published in medical journals. Further, there is a need for such a system, which will allow these modifications without requiring major software upgrades.